The new building at Prairie Gleaners will allow them to boost production and feed hungry people around the world. (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Chris Brown

Grand opening on Saturday

Expanded facility could double production at Prairie Gleaners

Jun 8, 2023 | 1:42 PM

CYPRESS COUNTY, AB – Since day one the mission of Prairie Gleaners has been to feed hungry people around the world.

They’ll be able to boost their production thanks to the new building being unveiled on Saturday.

“It almost allows us to increase our production by one half of what it is now. So one and a half times more possibly two times depending upon vegetables that we get, volunteers things like that,” says board member Jim Grossman.

Prairie Gleaners takes off-grade vegetables unable to be sold and dehydrates and packages them for distribution locally and to be shipped to other parts of Canada and around the world.

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For years the organization has wanted to expand to feed more people and couple of years ago Big Marble Farms stepped up to build this new facility.

Prairie Gleaners will upgrade its dehydration and cooling capabilities and put them in the new building. The extra space has room for 40 dehydration racks compared to the current limit of 24, and the new cooler is one and a half times the size of the old one.

Those moves and some other reconfiguring of the facility will free up space in the old building to get more people cutting more vegetables.

“Our hope is to increase our production therefore feeding more hungry people in the world, which is what we’re here for,” Grossman says.

He adds food insecurity in the world right now is “ridiculous,” and most of the Prairie Gleaners product has gone to the Ukraine in recent months.

Everyone is invited to the ribbon-cutting and open house on Saturday at 11 a.m. Prairie Gleaners is on Range Road 63, about 10 kilometres south of the city.